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Ok - since you seem to be looking for critiques, I'll bite. But for the sake of kindness, I'll take my teeth out first. Overall, I like it. It appeals to my simplicity and retro preferences. Like Prostheta said, the work is clean and of obvious high quality, and there's nothing that requires you to produce every instrument in the same family as your others - i.e. creativity is good. I love the oil finish on raw wood look and the tight grain in that sapele is beautiful. I'm not sure I like the headstock. The shape of the body says, "Look at me, I'm a little different", but the headstock says "I ran out of ideas". That's really the only criticism I would have for you. Like I said at first - it's a nice looking guitar, and I like it. -- se

I think you can use the flush cutters, or a pair of small pliers - as long as the tool is getting a good grip on the fret without denting/gouging the underlying wood. For instance, if a point of your tool is leveraged against the fretboard, you're probably going to end up sad. But if you have a good flat area of the tool distributing its weight on the board, you will probably be ok. Or better yet, get something between the tool and the wood like a credit card or similar - no sharp edges, flat enough to give you a good leverage point, etc. Or just clamp the neck well, and pull the fret out without leveraging against the wood at all. Here's the important information though (based on a history of both success and failure at this task)... heat up your frets before you pull them. If you used any glue, this will soften the glue, and the heat will also expand/soften the wood just a tad. Then go slow as you pull them. The goal here is to keep chip-out to a minimum. I'm sure there are others with other experience and advice for you, but that's what I've learned from my mistakes. -- se

That turned out very nice. Great work!

I like the red with the dog hair finish. That will look good with a nice shiny clear over the top.

So, based on last week's input we put together a plan of action to get the neck finished off, complete with the fretted and bound wenge fretboard. Over the weekend, we successfully dealt with the first two steps of our plan. We started by rough-cutting the shoulders of the neck tenon at the bandsaw. The neck meets the guitar body at a roughly 14.4 degree angle, so I trimmed the shoulders to that angle with a chisel, and, of course, had a chip-out issue. Fortunately, the chip was pretty big, and all in one piece, so it was pretty easy to glue back in with minimal hassle. Then I smoothed down the sides with the low-angle plane. With the shoulders done, we had to remove the ‘bottom shoulder’ as well, which we started at the table saw because it gives a smoother cut. We finished the rough cut at the band saw, then into the vice for finishing with chisel and plane. The tenon ended up clean, straight and smooth, so we were very happy. That should make our lives much easier when we get around to cutting the neck pocket in the body. With the tenon cut, we turned our attention to the truss rod channel. I have to admit that we made this harder on ourselves than it really had to be. If we had done this before rough cutting the side profile in the neck, we could have just put the edge guide on the router and had an easy go of it. However, we had already rough cut the side profile, so our sides were not parallel to the centerline of the neck. We started by clamping a fence to the workbench, then trying to clamp the neck down with the centerline parallel to the fence. At some point, we realized we were doing it backward, and we just clamped the neck into the end vice. Then we clamped the fence to the workbench so that it was parallel to the centerline. From there, we could run the router down the neck with the base firmly against the fence. We did several passes with a round bit (the truss rod is rounded on the bottom) to get to the proper depth. Then we expanded the top end of the channel to accept the larger head of the truss rod. A little cleanup and we had a great result. I have one open question at this point. The rod is flush to the surface of the neck all the way down, except for a slight gap above the chrome adjustment 'head' at the end of the channel. Should we cut a small filler piece of mahogany to fill the channel above that head? We’re excited to be getting to the fretboard next - it's starting to feel like real progress. As a bonus for reading to the end, here are some pics of the fully manual dust extraction system/shop assistant. Looks like he might need some training on the equipment.

That sounds really interesting - but gives me mixed vibes. I watched the factory tour video where they show/describe that process, and it looks a little too mass-produced-perfection for my taste. On the other hand, if you got creative with it, you might be able to do some really interesting things. Ugh - I just realized I don't like guitars that are built perfectly using technology and automation. At least it's because I'm old, and not because I'm a hipster.

You do beautiful work in general, and I really like where this guitar is going. I'm not sure how I feel about the "interrupted binding" that you've done here, and that I've seen on one or two other builds recently. Seems like it's hitting trend mode lately, and I'm not saying I don't like it... just not sure yet. One thought I had recently was that it might look interesting to put a layer of wood between your base and top that matches your binding (or bind with the same wood) - in this case, something light (maple?). Then when you do the forearm carve, have the binding blend in to the revealed stripe so that it looks like the binding runs around the perimeter of the body, and then through the forearm carve. I don't suspect that would be easy to execute, but in my head, it looks amazing! Thoughts?

Nice!

Beautiful work. -- se

Agree!

I'm assuming that varies by species as well. I closed-pore species like maple probably has more trouble taking stain after a fine sand than a more open species like mahogany. True? Still, 600 is probably too far either way.

This has been very helpful - thanks for all the input and different perspectives. Here's where I've landed for the moment. Neck/truss rod/tenon stuff Cut and thickness fretboard blank (keep sides parallel) Cut fret slots Trim fretboard to final dimensions (taper and length) Radius fretboard Bind the fretboard and trim/tweak to final specs Attach fretboard to neck (with pins, cauls and caution) Trim the neck to final width using a pattern bit following the edge of the fretboard Shape the neck (rasps, files and sandpaper) Install frets Attach the neck to the body (Deal with headstock finalization and veneer sometime before attaching neck to body) My thinking regarding radiusing the fretboard before gluing to the neck (8 before 10) is that I will probably build a little jig to hold the fretboard centered in a channel in which I can run my sanding block back and forth to ensure that it stays running straight along the length. I'm assuming that there is less variability among pre-glued fretboards than there is in necks, thus building a reusable jig for fretboards of different sizes will be easier than building a reusable jig for necks of different sizes and shapes. And I already know I can make a radiused clamping caul in any radius I need in about a half hour (yay, reusable jigs!). My thinking in binding before attaching to the neck (9 before 10) is that I want to use the finished fretboard as the pattern for trimming my neck width to size. For whatever reason (rational or not) the thought of putting the binding on after the fretboard is attached to the neck scares me off - I feel like I wouldn't get edges straight in places where then need to be in order to avoid unsightly gaps. So this is my plan of attack at this point. I'm sure I'm overthinking parts of this, but I'd rather overthink than underthink, especially on the first build!

I got mine from Harbor Freight. It's branded as a Drill Master and the regular price is $30, though with the ubiquitous 20% off coupon, it's $24. On Amazon, this exact same Drill Master trim router is listed by several sellers in the $45 - $60 range (not sure who is paying the Amazon premium?). I know there are varying opinions about Harbor Freight, but this little trim router does exactly what I expect from it. Light duty in tight spaces - easier to handle than the big router in a variety of ways. And if I was doing a lot of radiusing like this, for $24 I would definitely consider mounting one up permanently.

That seems reasonable. Sounds like I've got some neck pocket work to attend to as well. I've been back and forth in my head on this issue. Unless someone else suggests differently, I'll let your input sway me and will fret off the body. Thanks @ScottR @curtisaThat means radiusing before it's glued to the neck in my work plan above. Are the benefits of tweaking the slots worth any difficulties I might run up against in putting clamps on the non-flat surface of the radiused fretboard when I glue it on? I know I can use a caul or whatever - just trying to find the right balance. Maybe I'm overestimating the negatives of gluing up the already radiused fretboard.

Actually - it's too late for this, but I will do it this way next time. On this one, due to the way laid out the neck on our piece of mahogany, we didn't have a straight side to begin with, so we're just going to have to use a template for the channel. You're totally right about this. In my order above I have the radius shaping after it's installed, but I shape the sides before cutting the frets. I will reverse that order and cut the frets while I still have straight sides so I can be sure all the slots are square. That's a good catch - thanks! New order of operations for #4-6 above 4. Rough-cut the fretboard on table saw - keep sides parallel to center line 5. Cut fret slots square to sides 6. Trim fretboard to final dimensions, leaving space in the width for binding

You're making great progress. This is very nice, especially for a first build. You clearly have brought some skills to the game.

Ok - as a first-time builder, I need some input on the order of operations. We want to do some serious work on the neck this weekend, and I just want to be sure I have a reasonable approach. Here's what I'm guessing at in terms of the order of things, but I really don't know if this is best, so I'd like to hear opinions from more experienced builders. There are also several specific questions in there that I'd love to year what people think about. For reference - we're wanting a traditional Les Paul neck with an ivory ABS bound fretboard. See a photo of the 'inspiration guitar' at the bottom of this post. My proposed order of work Rough cut neck How close to finished dimensions does the neck tenon need to be at this point? It feels like later in the process, when other parts of the neck are more finished, it will be a little too late to be doing major work on the tenon. Route the truss-rod channel Install the truss-rod Rough-cut the fretboard on table saw Trim fretboard to final dimensions Should be able to do this with plane and straight-edge Being careful to keep edges square (maybe a shooting board is a better approach) Bottom needs to be square and smooth for gluing to neck Top should be close, but is not as critical yet since it will still be radiused Cut fret slots Have to do this before binding since the binding would get in the way of cutting the slots The slots have to be deep enough to account for radius since it will be difficult to deepen the slots after the binding is installed Bind the fretboard Attach fretboard to neck Doing this before the fretboard is radiused give me a flat surface on top when I clamp the fretboard to the neck Trim the neck to final width Do this with a pattern bit in the router, and follow the edge of the bound fretboard with the bearing. Gives me a neck that exactly matches the width of my fretboard Sand a radius into the fretboard. Is there any reason to not sand the radius in with the binding already attached? Does it depend on the binding material? In this case, we are expecting to use ivory ABS binding. Shape the neck Start with rasps and files How hard is it to not gouge the fretboard binding while shaping the neck? Finish by sanding up through the various grits I’m assuming it’s safe to sand the ABS binding material (?) Attach the neck to the body This would include any final tuning of the tenon and the heel Do any final tweaking/tuning to the neck shape Install frets All the fret dressing and setup follows Other questions: When is the best stage to final-shape the headstock and install the headstock veneer? This is the guitar that's serving as the inspiration for this build:

Very nice work. I also like the dark edge you get where the top meets the base - it's a nice accent without the extra work of putting something else in there. Did you give any thought to 'smoothing' the edge of the carve on the back the way you did with the top?

That is a beautiful guitar.

Of my two boys, Josh (the musician) is the one that takes more naturally to this kind of long game. Sure, he would love to have it now, but he's more than willing to take the long road if it means ending up with something he can be really proud of. Zach (the photographer) on the other hand... Tuesday evening; "Hey dad, I think it would be cool to have a drone with an HD camera. What do you think?" Wednesday afternoon; box from Amazon lands on the front porch... Very different people. Love 'em both!

Very nice work Andrew. I love seeing an older instrument getting a little life breathed back into it. That should be ready for many more years of work now.

Perfectly - thanks!

Making Things to Make Things to Make Things One of the reasons I love woodworking is that it is simply what it is. It’s me and the wood and nothing but a tool or two between us. And that simple relationship gives rise to beauty and function with no pretension. Well, most of the time anyway. Sometimes it turns out that I’ve spent an entire day in the shop making something that I need in order to make something that I’ll use to make something, and that’s what today’s post is actually about. Creative Problem Solving The ultimate goal in this case is the Les Paul style electric guitar that Josh and I are building. We want the traditional Les Paul 12" radius, but getting a radius on an eighteen(ish) inch by three(ish) inch board isn’t as easy as running it through a band saw. There seem to be a few common approaches to making that radius (there are actually a million ways to skin this cat, these are the ones I see most often). Hand planes. If you are good, you can plane the radius into the board with a sharp hand plane. Something along the lines of a Stanley #4 is a good choice. This takes a good bit of skill though, and is easy to mess up – which is not what you want to do with a carefully selected, highly figured piece of wenge. Router jig. There are several approaches to jigs you can build for your router that will carve the radius directly into your board. Many luthiers use this approach, and I may go there eventually, but these are often pretty involved builds, and the jig you end up with really only has one good use. So sure, when I get to the point that I’m building a guitar each month or so, this is probably where I’ll end up, but for now I’m looking for a simpler solution that hopefully can address more than just this one need. Radius sanding block. Sanding blocks with one surface cut at the desired radius can be used to sand that radius into the fretboard. If you have a block with a known and trusted radius, this is a very safe method of transferring that radius to your fretboard – it is unlikely that your sanding block will transfer a wrong radius, or will slip and gouge your board. Also, take the sandpaper off the block, and you’ve got a clamping caul with a matching radius. Simple and versatile. This is the direction I decided to go. Buy or Build? Radius sanding blocks are readily available from lots of vendors. But I tend to be a never buy what you can build kind of guy, so before I started shopping, I started drawing up ideas. Giving credit where it’s due, my initial ideas for the jigs came from a post by @hittitewarrior . His jig is a pretty large contraption and that size seemed to introduce a little too much variance in his results, so I wanted to design something smaller and simpler. I ended up with the following. A simple tower on a flat base with a couple side-supports. A small trim router attached to a board that hangs from the tower on a pivot point. There is a pivot point in the tower, and a corresponding point in the board for each radius that I’m interested in. As you can see in the pics above, I started with a metal pin in the pivot point, but I had a problem with the pivot board wanting to fall off the pin, so I had to switch that to a bolt. This was much more effective in keeping the pivot board secured to the tower. I used 1 x 3 poplar for my blocks. These are just project boards from Home Depot so they are easy to source and very inexpensive. If I wreck one for some reason or if I want more, it’s not that big a deal. The block goes under the router (duh) with some shims to get it to the right height and to keep it centered as I run it through. In this case, I attached two blocks with superglue/masking tape to get the right height. I then ran the router horizontally across the block, cutting the radius into the surface (I did try running a block using vertical passes along the length of the board, but that gave me an inconsistent radius). After each pass, I advanced the block 1 or 2 mm, then made another pass. I went halfway across the board, then turned the block around and did the other half from the other side. This allowed me to keep my fingers out of the way, but also required that I had the block centered properly so the radius would line up when run from opposite sides. After running through the jig the radius was good, but as you can see, not completely smooth. I set the board so the shadows would accentuate the ridges – they are not actually quite as bad as they look in the photo. Some sanding with a flexible sanding sponge took most of the waviness out of the block and left me with a perfectly good surface to attach sandpaper to. After finishing the 12″ block, I made another with a 9.5″ radius (assuming a future Strat-style build). Hard to Handle (so make a handle) Since I used 1 x 3 stock for the sanding block, it is a little on the thin side when it comes to actually using the thing (i.e. holding and sanding block itself). To rectify this, I made a simple handle from 3/4 plywood and attached it to the back of the block. I chiseled out some recesses to create some extra support and glue surface, and clamped lightly while the glue dried. After a couple coats of wipe-on, matte polyurethane to protect, and keep the wood from moving too much, these sanding blocks are ready for action. They haven't seen any action because as of last night the ploy was still curing, but as soon as I can get some actual sanding done, I'll post a follow-up with some results. This was a fun project with direct costs of about $5 for the wood, and whatever value you want to place on the shop scraps I used to make the jig. I figure it saved me about $30 on two blocks, and now I have a jig I can use to make as many sanding blocks or clamping cauls I want in the future. Let me know what you think or if you have any questions.

I actually scrolled back through this entire thread this morning, and want to say that this is probably my favorite of all your guitars that are featured in the thread. Granted, I tend to favor simpler designs with clear references to the classics, so there's that. I do have a couple observations that I hope you'll comment on, and a couple questions. One of the things I loved about the early photos of this guitar was the contrast between the dark zircote on top and the much lighter sapele underneath, and how the carve on the lower horn produced a really nice accent with that contrast. But the finish seems to have darkened the sapele quite a bit, diminshing the contrast. Was that expected/intentional, or is that just what you get when you put the finish on the sapele? In this photo, the zircote looks pretty open pored. Did you do any pore filling, and if so, what technique did you use? I personally really like keeping the natural look of the wood (i.e. unfilled), but I know many prefer the feel of the instrument better when it's filled. Can't wait to see the full set of finished photos - nice work all around! -- se

Love the pics with the contrasting textures... but did you lay that piece of art down on rough concrete?!? Almost gave me a heart attack, especially looking at the face-down pic. Aarrgghh! Doesn't look any worse for wear though, so I guess all's well. Beautiful instrument by the way. I really like your work.